English poleFrom Middle English pole, pal, from Old English pāl (“a pole, stake, post; a kind of hoe or spade”), from Proto-West Germanic *pāl (“pole”), from Latin pālus (“stake, pale, prop, stay”), perhaps from Old Latin *paxlos, from Proto-Italic *pākslos, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- (“to nail, fasten”). Doublet of peel, pale, and palus. Cognates Cognate with Scots pale, paill (“stake, pale”), North Frisian pul, pil (“stake, pale”), Saterland Frisian Pool (“pole”), West Frisian poal (“pole”), Dutch paal (“pole”), German Pfahl (“pile, stake, post, pole”), Danish pæl (“pole”), Swedish påle (“pole”), Icelandic páll (“hoe, spade, pale”), Old English fæc (“space of time, while, division, interval; lustrum”).
Originally, a stick; now specifically, a long and slender piece of metal or (especially) wood, used for various construction or support purposes.
For a spell we done pretty well. Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester same as you don't get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
There she was, walking around with an IV pole, and we were only told that "Mommy isn't feeling so well, so she has to be connected to a special soda."2019, Abby Chava Stein, Becoming Eve, Seal Press, page 26:
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A construction by which an animal is harnessed to a carriage.
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Fishing, Hobbies, Lifestyle A type of basic fishing rod.
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A long sports implement used for pole-vaulting; now made of glassfiber or carbon fiber, formerly also metal, bamboo and wood have been used.
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Slang A telescope used to identify birds, aeroplanes or wildlife.
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Historical A unit of length, equal to a rod (¹⁄₄ chain or 5+¹⁄₂ yards).
English poleFrom Middle English pole, pal, from Old English pāl (“a pole, stake, post; a kind of hoe or spade”), from Proto-West Germanic *pāl (“pole”), from Latin pālus (“stake, pale, prop, stay”), perhaps from Old Latin *paxlos, from Proto-Italic *pākslos, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- (“to nail, fasten”). Doublet of peel, pale, and palus. Cognates Cognate with Scots pale, paill (“stake, pale”), North Frisian pul, pil (“stake, pale”), Saterland Frisian Pool (“pole”), West Frisian poal (“pole”), Dutch paal (“pole”), German Pfahl (“pile, stake, post, pole”), Danish pæl (“pole”), Swedish påle (“pole”), Icelandic páll (“hoe, spade, pale”), Old English fæc (“space of time, while, division, interval; lustrum”).
Long had poled the ball into the lower deck in right center.2007, Tony Silvia, Baseball Over the Air:
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Engineering, Metallurgy, Natural sciences, Physical sciences To treat (copper) by blowing natural gas or other reducing agent through the molten oxide, burning off the oxygen.
to pole copper
pole
verb
Etymology From Middle French pole, pôle, from Latin polus, from Ancient Greek πόλος (pólos, “axis of rotation”).
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To induce piezoelectricity in (a substance) by aligning the dipoles.
Either of the two points on the earth's surface around which it rotates; also, similar points on any other rotating object.
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A point of magnetic focus, especially each of the two opposing such points of a magnet (designated north and south).
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Broadly, Figuratively Any of a small set of extremes; especially, either of two extremes that are possible or available.
In discussing alternatives to the polar extremes, Professor Nguyen mentioned two poles of a filthy floor versus a sterile surgical site.
Genuine music is the offspring of profound emotion: of exaltation, pain, or joy. Music produced outside of a situation between these poles of the human heart is of banal character, bloodless, watery.1929, Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, Jewish Music: Its Historical Development, page 194:
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Geometry, Mathematics, Sciences A fixed point relative to other points or lines.
And the slope sun his upward beam / Shoots against the dusky pole,1634 October 9 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, […], published 1637, →OCLC; reprinted as Comus: […] (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, →OCLC:
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Either of the states that characterize a bipolar disorder.